Clamps on the metal uprights of the Founders room divider. We used these to hold the components in place as we removed the pins holding the wood components to the metal uprights. August 28, 2022.
family home projects work in progress

Crunch Time with Home Improvements

by Mary

Normally I post to my blog on Saturday or Sunday. It is now Tuesday. We have entered crunch time with our home improvements because we filled out the paperwork to list our home for sale. Eeek!

Erik and I are making steady progress, but there’s still so much to do. To say that we are stressed is the understatement of the decade. Thankfully, there is an end in sight.

Speaking of decades, I thought we had been in our house for 29 years this month. According to our realtor, Paula Quinn of RE/MAX Central (in case you’re wondering), we’ve been in our house for 30 years, having purchased it at the end of July in 1992. I was wrong on both the month and the year. Sheesh.

I promised myself I wouldn’t take long for this post because there’s JUST SO MUCH TO DO!!! So a few photos from work this past week.

Trim Painting

Trim boards with wet white paint resting on sawhorses to dry. August 27, 2022.
Trim boards with wet white paint resting on sawhorses to dry. August 27, 2022.

Did you know that trim is hella-expensive now? We had to purchase boards that were less finished and do the finish work ourselves. Erik spent the better part of last week sanding and priming the boards and filling knots with hot mud. I helped with the painting process by moving the boards to sawhorses to dry.

Freshly painted white trim boards standing upright to finish drying. August 27, 2022.
Freshly painted white trim boards standing upright to finish drying. August 27, 2022.

It is fun to watch Erik use a spray gun and compressor to paint or apply other finishes to wood because he is so regular and meticulous in his work. While I’m that way with fiber arts, I’m like a drunken bumblebee when I paint.

Erik painting trim with a spray gun. August 27, 2022.
Erik painting trim with a spray gun. August 27, 2022.

Plumbing

Over the past couple of weeks, we had Vern Kroll of Kroll Plumbing install a new sink faucet, bathtub faucet, and handheld shower with bar in the upstairs bathroom. These are tasks we should have done years ago. (Sorry for the cold-water-only in the sink, kids!) I’m enjoying these new bathroom toys while we’ve got them and hope the new owners like the sink faucet as much as I do.

A big shout-out to Vern for all the plumbing work he has done for us over the years.

Sleek new sink faucet in the upstairs bathroom. I didn't have time to make note of the brand before it was installed. August 29, 2022.
Sleek new sink faucet in the upstairs bathroom. I didn’t have time to make note of the brand before it was installed. August 29, 2022.

 

New tub faucet and handheld shower installed in the upstairs bathroom. August 29, 2022.
New tub faucet and handheld shower installed in the upstairs bathroom. August 29, 2022.

Cleaning Out Cistern

While working on home improvement projects all over the house, I’ve also been packing and cleaning our belongings out of different areas. I tackled the basement and cistern over the past couple of weeks. There was stuff in the back of the cistern we hadn’t looked at in decades.

The cistern after I had emptied and swept it. This odd-shaped little room is the original basement of the house. August 23, 2022.
The cistern after I had emptied and swept it. This odd-shaped little room is the original basement of the house. August 23, 2022.

Dismantling Room Divider

Over the past couple of days, we have also dismantled our large, mid-century modern Founders room divider. We love this piece, but it is not easy to put together or take apart. It’s definitely a two-person-plus-several-clamps job.

The Founders room divider is on the right side of this photo. January 14, 2022.
The Founders room divider is on the right side of this photo. January 14, 2022.

 

Clamps on the metal uprights of the Founders room divider. We used these to hold the components in place as we removed the pins holding the wood components to the metal uprights. August 28, 2022.
Clamps on the metal uprights of the Founders room divider. We used these to hold the components in place as we removed the pins holding the wood components to the metal uprights. August 28, 2022.

I took photos of the clamps during the dismantling process because we are going to have to put this together again and I want to remember how we did it.

That’s what we’ve been up to the past couple of weeks and why I was too busy to blog last weekend. I really shouldn’t be blogging now with all we have to do, but I want to keep track of our projects.

Crunch time will continue for the next couple of weeks, so if there’s a bit of blog silence during that time, you’ll know why. Please send well wishes as we try to survive the stress.

Of course, because I couldn’t blog as usually, that’s when suddenly I got a spike in readers who were curious about my bog coat posts and I ended up with a slew of broken links. Ha!